Brassiere back connections for evening attire



May 14, 193 H. SCHOTTENFELS BRASSIERE BACK CONNECTIONS FOR EVENING ATTIRE Filed Dec. 16, 1933 INVENTOR Aid ATTORN 0 0 0 0 Q 5 O 0 0 0 1 040 0 I 0 0 0 Patented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRASSIERE BACK CONNECTIONS FOR EVENING ATTIRE York, N. J.

Application December 16, 1933, Serial No. 702,857

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to brassires and is more particularly related to an improved article of this character designed especially for use in connection with an evening gown or garment 5 having in its back part a substantial open gap for exposing the back of the wearer, although my invention is not confined to such use but may be employed in connection with any dress or gown whether or not provided with a back-revealing opening.

An object of my invention is to provide a brassiere with back connections adapted, when the article is used with an evening-gown type of attire, to position and maintain the shoulder straps and therewith associated parts hid behind the abbreviated material forming the back of the gown and so that no parts of such connections will appear in the substantial open gap provided for exposing the back of the wearer.

A further object in this connection is to provide an arrangement having parts designed and connected to accomodate the form and movements of the wearer without the display of any parts in the open back of the gown.

Another object is to provide a novel arrangement of back connections designed to be connected with the girdle or other foundation element upon the body of the wearer, and which, when connected therewith, will subject the shoulder straps and underarm side pieces of the brassiere to a substantial pull-down and positioning action whereby to keep the full area of the open-back gap entirely free of all parts of the back connections.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel central coupling device or connector with which to engage the elastic back strips or straps provided as extensions on the shoulder straps and underarm side pieces and with which also to engage an elastic pull-down strip or strap provided for attachment to the girdle that serves as the foundation member for the exertion of the pull-down strain on the assembly of back connections.

The coupling device is characterized by having hook-tipped arms for detachably engaging the back straps and which are angularly related in such manner that when the pull-down strip is attached to the girdle, the pulling strain exerted on the two opposite back strips will be in general along downwardly diverging lines and hence generally away from the opposite edges defining the lower portion of the open gap in the dress.

With the' foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more fully described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown one practical example of my invention.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a back view of the brassiere connections made in accordance with my invention, showing the positions assumed thereby upon the back of a person when the article is connected with a girdle, the open back dress being shown in dash-dot outline;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved brassiere; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view, showing the coupling device and elastic strip elements therewith connected.

In describing my invention, the terms and expressions which I use are employed as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that the article includes a brassiere body composed of connected breast pockets Hi, to the upper portions of which are attached at H shoulder straps 12 adapted in the usual way to be passed over the shoulders and down along the back of the wearer and in such manner as to be concealed behind the portions it which support the evening gown or dress H from the shoulders of the wearer. The body of the brassiere has formed therewith or attached thereto the usual side pieces or portions l 5 which extend under or below the arms of the wearer and which in the present embodiment are joined at l6 to the shoulder straps II. The body of the brassire as well as the underarm side pieces 15 may consist of any suitable fabric or material while the straps l2 preferably consist of elastic material.

According to a feature of my invention, elastic back strips or tapes I! are connected at 16 to the joined ends of the shoulder straps and underarm side pieces, and in the assembly of back connections these back strips l1 function as elastic terminals for the shoulder straps and underarm side pieces.

l8 denotes in general a fiat elongated coupling device by means of which centrally in the middle of the wearer's back well below the open backspace or gap IQ of the evening dress and well above a girdle foundation 20 or similar element, to connect the two back strips l1 and an elastic pull-down strip 2| which-is buttoned or otherwise detachably secured at 22 to the girdle 20. The coupling device I8 is made with integral hook tipped arms 23 in spaced relation to its opposite side edges, and these hook tipped arms extend in opposite directions from the body of the coupling device from the upper end thereof. It will be noted that they extend in downwardly diverging directions with respect to each other and angularly with respect to the long axis of the body of the coupling. It will further be noted that the lower portion of the coupling is made in the form of an elongated strap receiving loop 24 which extends in its longitudinal direction transversely to the long axis of the coupling device. The hooks 25 formed integrally with the arms 23 project inwardly towards each other and the body of the coupling opposite the inner ends of the hooks 25 is made with spaced cooperating indentations 26. With this arrangement, the looped ends 21 of the back strips l1 may be readily applied to the arms 23 by slipping them over the hook tipped ends, part of the material as will be readily understood passing through the spaces intervening between the hooks 25 and indentures 26; and it will be appreciated that when the loops 2! have been applied to the arms to occupy positions thereon, as shown in the figures, the hooks 25 in cooperation with the indentations 26 will prevent any accidental detachment of the loops from the arms. Preferably and. as shown, the back strips I! are of a width substantially equal to the length of the arms 23 so that the loops 21 will in length be substantially coextensive with the length of the arms between the upper inception thereof and the hooks 25. Due to this arrangement, there is no slipping of the loops longitudinally of the arms; and in this connection it may be remarked that it is best to make the elastic loops 21 with an interior cross section normally less than the size of the hooks over which they are passed in order that there will be no substantial slipping or sliding of the loops upon the hook-tipped arms. The hook tipped arms 23 and the elongated strip receiving loop 24 all lie in the fiat plane of the body of the coupling device so that with the latter the connected back strips l1 and pull-down strip 2| will lie flat against the back of the wearer. Through the provision 'of the loops 2! and the hook tipped arms 23, it will be appreciated that the back strips II are detmhably connected with the coupling device, while in the, present embodiment the pulldown strip 2| is permanently connected with the said device, the said pull-down strip being thus connected by loopingits end through the eye 28 of the elongated strip-receiving loop 24 and thence securing the applied end to the material of the pull-down strip by sewing or the like so as to provide a permanently engaged loop 29.

The foregoing assembly of back connections accommodate themselves to the form and movements of the wearer without displaying such connections in the back-revealing opening ID. The pull-down strip 2| subjects the whole assembly of connections to a pull-down positioning action and due to this action which, of course, is aided and supplemented by the capacity of the elastic back strips l1 and shoulder straps l2 to yield, the back straps which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, converge downwardly from the points I8, are adapted to yield under the movements of the body of the wearer along lines as :r, :c from a central back point as 11 towards the outer sides of the hips.

As a result, neither the shoulder straps nor the back strips can, under the movements of the wearer, become revealed within theback-revealing opening l9.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of my invention will be clearly and fully understood. It will be seen that I have devised a very simple and novel article wherein the several back connections are cooperatively arranged and pulled down toward the girdle so that no parts will be exposed within the back-revealing opening of the evening gown. I have herein disclosed one simple and practical embodiment of the improved back connections, but it will nevertheless be understood that the same may be susceptible to more or less modification in the form, proportion and relative arrangement of the several parts, andI, therefore, reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes therein as may be fairly incorporated within the spirit and scope of the invention as.

claimed.

I claim:-

1. Brassiere back connections adapted to be hid behind the material of an evening gown and to be held out of the open-back area of such gown, in combination with a girdle foundation, comprising shoulder straps and underarm side pieces connected with the body of the brassiere and having at their back ends permanently connected elastic strip terminals common thereto, a central coupling device having adjacent its top portion downwardly and oppositely inclined hook arms with which the strip terminals are detachably connected under definite tension, and a pull-down connection between the lower portion of the coupling device and the girdle foundation below it, said hook arms being effective to establish tensioned strip terminals in definitely balanced equilibrium and prevent movement of the parts into the open back area of the gown.

2. A brassiere provided with back connections comprising shoulder straps and under-arm side pieces, elastic back strips forming permanently united extensions of said shoulder straps and side pieces whereby to exert a pulling strain thereon, a central coupling device having flat projections with which said extensions are detachably connected in fiat tensioned form, a member permanently fixed to said device below said projections and having means for attach ment to a foundation article of clothing whereby and wherefrom to give a pull-down effect on the coupling device, said projections having the form -of an inverted V to maintain the extensions when properly tensioned in the definite form of a V so as to definitely stabilize the shoulder straps and side pieces and prevent excessive movement thereof in any direction other than in the direction of lengthwise yielding of the extensions.

3. A brassiere holding assembly for use with an open back gown, low cut in the back, the brassiere' having connected breast pockets each having a supportingshoulder strap and an under-arm piece, a permanent connection firmly connecting together the shoulder strap and side piece of each pocket, said connection being at the back ends of such parts and forming a junction terminal, the shoulder straps and side pieces havingv arrangement to dispose the'two junction terminals against the back of the wearer at opposite sides of the open cut outline and near the low point of the same, elastic strips each permanently secured at its upper end to a junction terminal, an anchorage part having means for attachment to a fixed garment, to be disposed well below the low point of the open cut outline, an element attached to the anchorage part and to which the lower end of each elastic strip is detachably connected, said element having its elastic strip engaging portions shaped to hold the elastic strip ends in definite fixed relation, with the strips themselves flat tensioned in the form of a V from such definite fixed relation to said junction terminals, whereby to maintain the parts of the assembly in definite balanced equilibrium and wholly outside the open cut outline.

4. A brassire of the class described, comprising connected breast pockets to each of which are attached the front ends of a shoulder strap and an under-arm side piece, means permanently uniting the rear ends of the shoulder straps with their respective side pieces, to provide two firm junction terminals adapted to be disposed in opposing relation against the back or the wearer, an anchorage element having means at its lower end for attachment to a fixed garment and carrying a connecting element at its upper end, elastic strips adapted to be tensioned between the junction terminals and the connecting element, their upper ends being permanently united with the junction terminals and said connecting element having projections with which the lower ends of the elastic strips are detachably engaged, said projections being connected together in the form of an inverted V for holding the lower ends of the strips in close definitely fixed relation with the strips themselves fiat tensioned throughout their length in the form of a V to definitely establish the junction terminals in balanced equilibrium and prevent excessive up and down movement thereof while permitting lengthwise yielding of the strips along 20 

